


VII. Flawed, Petty, Evil Creature

by ShadowCas



Series: Where Do We Go From Here? (SPN Hiatus Creations 2019) [7]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: (kind of), Apocalypse, Betaed, F/M, Favorite quote, Flirting, Long coda, Magic, Phone Calls, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Season/Series 15, SPN Hiatus Creations 2019, Week 7, Worry, coda series, flawed petty evil creature, implied Sam/Rowena, magic crystal calls, reference to Funeralia, separated, soon-to-be reunited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 18:09:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19796257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowCas/pseuds/ShadowCas
Summary: Rowena has been stranded in LA for two months, where the Apocalypse has taken the worst toll, and the Winchesters haven't heard from her in weeks. Just as Sam reaches the peak of worry, an unexpected bit of magic takes place. Could it be another reprieve in bleak circumstances?





	VII. Flawed, Petty, Evil Creature

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to sweetness47 for beta-ing!

Sam puts down his phone and turns a page of a book he’s half-reading. He tries to force himself to take in the words, but the second he does so, an itch builds up again that he can’t ignore. He grabs his phone once more and triple checks for any communication.

No new messages.

It’s been over two months since the initial outbreak, and there’s still no sign of Rowena. It’s now been several weeks, possibly a month, since he’d last heard from her at all. Most everyone they care about has at least been in contact, even if they’ve yet to arrive, but it’s been complete silence from her.

Television services are all down — that includes both cable and satellite, but there are still a few private radio stations sharing news. They’ve sort of banded together to get information from one coast to another, through their signal limits, like a strange game of telephone. With the advanced Bunker technology, the hunters can tune into all of them, and it’s amusing how things can get garbled in the few days it takes to get information from Washington state to Washington, DC. However, there’s one thing all stations seem to agree on: LA is bad, really bad, and if your loved ones are still in there, they’re probably not getting out. Ever.

With a frustrated huff, he drops his phone back on the table and slams his book shut, for good measure. Not even a second later, he hears the familiar buzz of a vibrating phone. He lunges back for his, only to meet a blank screen.

Well, that’s odd.

So, it’s not his phone. He rises from the table and tries to find the source of the noise. He’d originally though it was ringing off the table, and it’s definitely the sound of something vibrating against wood. He looks around the room, quickly ruling out several locations. He decides it must be in a drawer, and he sorts mentally through each one. It’s not the one with loose texts. It’s not the one with comic books. Definitely not Dean’s not-so-secret-stash of vintage _Busty Asian Beauties_. Probably not —

His eyes flick a few drawers ahead of where he’s currently considering the contents of. The magic drawer. Could it be?

He runs to it and yanks it open, revealing herbs, charms, and potions of all sorts, mostly kept for Rowena on the occasions she does spells at the Bunker. Sam rifles through it pressingly, though not without care and respect for the delicate objects inside. Even if Rowena is literally dying (and shit, he sure hopes not), she’d give him an earful for damaging the precious items inside.

Finally, he hones in on the source of the vibration. It’s a pendant with a large, translucent crystal, used for communication magic. His heart leaps in his chest. There’s only one person this could be, one person who even knows this crystal is _here_.

He’s getting odd looks, but he can’t bring himself to care. He quickly finds a quiet corner and says the incantation to open up the line, so urgently that he practically shouts it. There’s a swell of adrenaline as he finally lays eyes on Rowena, an event that he’s been anxiously anticipating for months.

“Rowena,” he exclaims. The picture is fuzzy, as if she’s had to improvise with a lesser tool, but it’s most definitely her. He tries not to worry about her unkempt hair and tired eyes in favor of knowing that she’s _real_ and _alive_. “Thank God. Well, _no,_ actually, definitely not God, but…”

“Samuel,” she says, but she barely has the chance before he’s asking a million questions.

“Where are you? Are you okay? Did you get out of LA? Are you hurt at all? How did you — ?”

“Sam.”

“Sorry.”

She gifts him with a tiny smile. “It’s good to see you.” His heart stutters. “Even if it’s not very clearly. Nothing to be done about the image, I’m afraid. All my crystals were lost when my hotel room was compromised, and I’ve had to settle for a piece of natural quartz on the roadside.”

His mouth goes dry. “Your room was broken into? By?”

“Zombies, unfortunately.” Even through the fuzzy image, Sam can see her scrunch her little nose up in disgust.

“Rowena!”

“It’s all fine, now. I’ll admit it was a bit difficult to find transportation out of the city. I’m sure you know all the roads are a no-go.”

“Yeah, it’s — it’s really bad. Total deadlock.”

“Literally, love. Zombies running all up and down the highway. Those who weren’t killed got locked in, and well, it didn’t take long…” Sam’s stomach churns at the thought. “Well, there is word some escaped on foot.”

“How did you get through?”

“Well, it took a while to find reliable transportation, but I finally acquired a motorcycle, and —”

“A motorcycle?” he exclaims.

“— _and_ , with the aid of a bit of magic, I was able to weave my way out. The zombies were mostly cleared out by the time I went through them. No one left to attack. The few that lingered were taken care of with a bullet to the head,” she says. Sam can only gape at her. Rowena purrs, “What? I can learn new tricks.”

“A motorcycle!”

“Och, still caught up on that? Yes, it’s rather unglamorous, I know. Once I was out of the thick of things, I did find a car. So long as I avoid major cities, I should be fine.”

Sam barely dares to hope. “And… you’re coming here?”

“Well, I didn’t want to presume, but…”

“Yes! Yes, please. Where are you now?”

“Oh, about an hour outside of Las Vegas; I called as soon as I could find the means to. Not that I’ll be going through that mess, of course. I’ll be cutting across the I-40. How’s Albuquerque, by the way? Is it as bad as the cities out here?”

“No. No, not that I’ve heard,” Sam says, flipping quickly through their notes on the conditions of the outside world. “I mean, no worse than the suburbs, at least. It’s worst out west. As long as you stay away from grocery stores and shopping malls, you should be fine.”

“Right. In that case, I should be there before the week’s out.”

“Oh, good,” he says, with visible relief.

“Are you alright, Sam? It hasn’t been terrible there, has it?”

“Oh, no,” he quickly reassures her. “I mean, just the same as anywhere. It’s just been stressful. A lot of people here. A lot of worrying over the ones who aren’t.”

She rolls her eyes a bit, as if she assumes that she isn’t included in that group. She couldn’t be more wrong. “And how’re you coping?” she asks, softening a bit. “I know with what happened to Jack…”

“Oh! No, it’s actually—” He laughs. “You’ll never believe it.”

“Try me.”

“Well, he’s in the Empty again. _But_ we talked with Billie—”

“— _Pshh_. Of course _you_ got Death’s attention, no problem.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t like that. We’d honestly given up hope at that point, and she reached out to us. Rowena, she actually has a plan. An honest-to- _not_ -God plan that might get us out of this.”

“And that would be?”

“Well, erm. The thing is, we don’t really know most of the details. She didn’t want to make us targets for Chuck.”

“Fair enough, I suppose, though maddening all the same.”

“Yeah. We do know, though, that she’s gonna bring back Jack. With his soul and everything.”

“Oh, Sam, that’s wonderful!”

“Yeah,” he says, and he realizes he’s grinning like a fool. He clears his throat. “Anyways, uh, we know there’s gonna be some kind of battle. I know she’s got other powerful beings involved, so hopefully no humans on the front lines.”

“Any witches?”

He draws in a sharp breath. “I can’t drag you into another conflict that you don’t want to be a part of, but if you do, but we really could use —”

“—Don’t be daft, Sam, of course I’ll help.”

Relief floods through him. “Thank you. Really.”

“You owe me,” she says pointedly, but he knows it’s just in jest.

He laughs. “Yeah, I already owe you.”

“Well, now you owe me double. You better make it worth my while.” She smirks, and the implicit promise warms his face.

“Oh, I will,” slips out of his mouth, heating up his face even more. He wants to punch himself for saying it, but this accidental flirtation seems to please Rowena even more.

“Well, I’ll have to hurry on over then.” She looks away, face flickering for a moment. “I believe it’s time to hit the road again.”

“Trouble?”

“Not yet, but soon to be if I don’t get a move on. Bye, Samuel, see you soon. Give darling Dean a lot of I-told-you-so’s for me, will you?”

“Will do,” he says with a smile. Rowena has guessed correct in that Dean has expressed doubt over her eventual arrival, more than once. “Stay safe.”

“You, too. Kisses,” she says, giving him one more thing to blush about, before disconnecting their call. His heart thumps audibly. 

Of course, she’ll come through. He knows she will. Ever since she confessed to him over a year ago, “I’m a flawed, petty, evil creature, Samuel, and I don’t know if I can be redeemed but I have to try,” even though she was brandishing a knife directed at _him_ , he knew that Rowena was far more than she let on. The very admittance of those words was proof that they no longer fit her.

Flawed, petty, evil. Sam thinks that “flawed” is the only one that still fits, and that’s only because it applies to every human on the planet. But petty? Evil? When he thinks of the Rowena he knows, he thinks of soft smiles with gleaming eyes, kind shoulder nudges, and fierce, determined bravery. A bravery that she’s bringing, once again, to stand and fight with by his side.

Yes. Kind, beautiful, brave.

And she’s finally coming home.


End file.
